Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

56 reviews

booksandbotanics's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was very good. 
I absolutely adored the writing style; it was so beautiful and lyrical. 
I also loved how Ariadne & Phaedra were described and how their stories were told. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Vomit

nebulasaurus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

chelsearose's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Murder and War

royalty's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

cg1256's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

maddielinehan's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Another myth retelling with pop feminism from 2016 sprinkled in- good start but incredibly slow paced once we move past the Minotaur myth 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, and Gaslighting

roxie_read_that's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

linw21's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I was very annoyed with Ariadne but I found it really nice to see all the myths I know being woven together. It got very good over the second half, but the first half was just a bit boring

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Incest and Violence

elly29's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I might have thought this was also by Madeline Miller, who wrote Circe. Which is an impressive thing to say; this is Saint's debut novel, and already she is accomplished. I will look forward to Elektra when it comes out in April '22.

The themes were the same as Circe - the powerlessness of women in the Greek world, and how women always seem to pay for the crimes and indiscretions of men. Saint certainly emphasized that theme, through the telling of Ariadne's story (and a quarter of it was well and truly her sister Phaedra's story).

I was surprised at the portrayal of post-partum depression and depression Phaedra experienced. It seems rare in a YA/EA novel like this.

This is an interesting tale if you like Greek feminist retellings, the Minotaur stories where the Minotaur is still bad, or Dionysus. At times it comes across as misandrist, ie that all divine and mortal men will disappoint in some way (do women not disappoint?).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Theseus may be one of the most famous heroes of Greek mythology, but this retelling shows us Ariadne’s side of the story. 

Before reading Ariadne, I only knew of the titular character for her role in Theseus’ escape from the labyrinth. I was surprised by both the rest of Ariadne’s story and my ignorance of it; the twists and turns—especially Ariadne’s eventual marriage—make for a dramatic story.

The Olympians are usually so cruel and capricious, both so much more and so much less than human. So it was interesting to see Dionysus, the god of wine and madness, no less, acting so compassionately to human women. And, though I was not surprised, his betrayal and the violence he used in pursuit of more power was a disappointment.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

Not happy at all. Even though the ending is tragic, it feels inevitable, which tempers the sadness somewhat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail